Hitherto, it has been known to utilize an interlayer development-inhibiting effect (hereinafter referred to as interlayer effect) as a means for improving the color reproducibility of color photographic materials.
Referring to an example of a color negative photographic material, impartation of a development inhibiting effect from the green-sensitive layer to the red-sensitive layer makes a color forming of the red-sensitive layer by white light exposure is suppressed lower than that by red light exposure. Similarly, the development inhibiting effect of the red-sensitive layer on the green-sensitive layer in the color photographic material gives thereto green reproduction in a higher saturation degree.
Where the saturation (chroma) of the principle colors i.e., red, green and blue colors, is elevated by the method, there occurs a drawback that the yellowish to cyanic green color hue could not be reproduced faithfully. Given the situation, JP-A-61-34541 (the term "JP-A" as used herein means an "unexamined published Japanese patent application") has proposed a technique of overcoming the drawback. Precisely, this has proposed a silver halide color photographic material having at least one blue-sensitive silver halide emulsion layer containing yellow color-forming coupler(s), at least one green-sensitive silver halide emulsion layer containing magenta color-forming coupler(s) and at least one red-sensitive silver halide emulsion layer containing cyan color-forming coupler(s) on a support, in which the weight-average wavelength in the color sensitivity distribution of said green-sensitive layer (weight-average .lambda.G) falls between 520 nm and 580 nm (520 nm.ltoreq.(weight-average .lambda..sub.G).ltoreq.580 nm), the weight-average wavelength in the distribution of the interlayer effect of the layers on at least one red-sensitive silver halide emulsion layer (weight-average .lambda.-.sub.R) within a wavelength range between 500 nm and 600 nm is such that 500 nm&lt;(weight average .lambda.-.sub.R).ltoreq.600 nm and (weight-average .lambda..sub.G)-(weight average .lambda.-.sub.R).gtoreq.5 nm. The photographic material has been proposed to attain faithful color reproduction.
However, evaluation of the color prints obtained by using the proposed photographic material has revealed that the graininess of the silver halide emulsion layer that gives the interlayer effect to the red-sensitive layer is worse than that of the other coloring layers.
This is considered because the absorption of the conventional sensitizing dyes used in the layer having the interlayer effect is weak and the yellow filter layer cuts a light near 500 nm to an extent more than required.